
Annual Credit Report
This is the only true way to get your credit report for free! No gimmick, no catch, no fee, nada. If you see advertisements on TV, print, or websites about free credit report don’t believe them. They want you to subscribe to something or enroll you in some monthly program. It might be free at first, trial offer, and then you will start getting billed monthly for some kind of credit protection month after month.
Why would you believe me? Well, because it’s not me that’s providing the service. It’s a company that is sponsored by the FTC, a government entity.
According to the FTC.. “annualcreditreport.com is the ONLY authorized online source for you to get a free credit report under federal law. You can get a free report from each of the three national credit reporting companies every 12 months. Some other sites claim to offer “free” credit reports, but may charge you for another product if you accept a “free” report. “
As the name suggest, you can get a credit report every year for free. You can get your report from all three credit reporting agencies. Experian, Equifax, and Transunion all through the link above. I have used this service in the past and it has worked well for me. However, they all offer you to get your credit score for a fee usually around $5-10. You don’t need to know your credit score. It’s not important to you because you cannot change the score or contest it. However, you should go over your credit report with a fine comb. This is where you can find errors and you can fix them.
Luckily, I have not had any errors on my credit report. If you do catch an error it’s a somewhat easy fix. Each credit agency will offer you a way to contest an error on your credit report. For instance, if you had paid off a certain debt and it shows that you still owe money you can provide proof, a statement showing you paid off the balance, to the agency and they will have to remove it. Keep a copy of everything you send them and most importantly document everything. Give it a try and you might be surprise at some of things you see on your credit report.